Politics

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Sen. Ted Stevens, Alaska Republican, talks to supporters in 2008 at a rally welcoming him home. Stevens, a senator from 1968 to 2009, died in a plane crash outside Dillingham, Alaska, on Monday at the age of 86. (Associated Press)

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George Mitchell, U.S. Mideast special envoy, tells of meeting Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. He meets Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Associated Press)

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RECESS APPOINTMENT: Dr. Donald Berwick can serve for a while without a Senate vote or a hearing. (AP Photo)

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New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush signs autographs for New England Patriots fans during a joint football practice in Foxborough, Mass. Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon listens to an address by President Obama in Washington in March.

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** FILE ** Sen. Ted Stevens, Alaska Republican, leaves U.S. District Court in Washington on Thursday, July 31, 2008, after pleading not guilty to seven counts, including concealing more than $250,000 in gifts from an oil services company. (The Washington Times)

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US Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska leaves the US Courthouse in Washington D.C. as the trial adjourns for the day, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008. (Joseph Silverman/Washington Times)

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Several prominent Republican senators held a press conference to discuss funding for border security. Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH), Ted Stevens (R-AK), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), at right. Monday, December 19, 2005. Washington DC ( Roey Yohai / The Washington Times )

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President Pro Tempore Senator Ted Stevens, and Department of the Interior Secretary Gale Norton, right, hold a news conference supporting arctic oil drilling outside the Russell Senate office building in NW Washington DC, Tuesday, March 15, 2005. ( Astrid Riecken / The Washington Times )

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Legislators convene in the offices of House Speaker Dennis Hastert in the U.S. Capitol to sign legislation regulating personal bankruptcy, Thursday, April 14, 2005. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), left, reaches across Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to shake hands with Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), after the signing. (Allison Shelley / Washington Times)

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A press conference sponsored by Alaska Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski was held in support of opening ANWR, the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, to oil drilling, in the Senate in Congress in Washington DC, on Friday, October 28, 2005. ( Roey Yohai / The Washington Times )

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Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is seen in a closing elevator after leaving the Republican luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006. (Katie Falkenberg / The Washington Times)

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Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. waits for an elevator on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., left, talks with Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., as he walks into his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., gets in the elevator on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., talks with reporters on his way to the elevator on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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This video image provided by House Television shows Rep. Charles Rangel, New York Democrat, speaking on the floor of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/House Television)

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President Barack Obama, followed by teachers and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, walks to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010, to urge the House to pass legislation that could help keep 160,000 educators on the job. From left are: Shannon Lewis, of Romney, W. Va., who was a special education instructor who lost her job in June when her position was cut due to lack of funding, Duncan, and Rachel Martin who taught kindergarten in Richton Park, Ill. until she was laid off in March. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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President Barack Obama, accompanied by teachers, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010, to urge the House to pass legislation that could help keep 160,000 educators on the job. From left are: Shannon Lewis, of Romney, W. Va., who was a special education instructor who lost her job in June when her position was cut due to lack of funding, Duncan, the president, and Rachel Martin who taught kindergarten in Richton Park, Ill. until she was laid off in March. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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President Barack Obama delivers remarks on teachers jobs and House bill H.R. 1586 Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on August 10, 2010. Obama was joined by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. UPI/Kevin Detsch